Diablo 4 Season 7 is well underway, and if you’ve been playing then you’re likely experimenting with all the various Witchcraft powers and blasting your way through Headhunt zones to reclaim the lost heads that have escaped from the Tree of Whispers. The new season is a welcome change of pace for ARPG fans, whether you’re all-in on Blizzard’s iconic series or just fancy a break from running Path of Exile 2 maps. Arriving soon, Diablo 4 patch 2.1.1 is set to make your life smoother, whether you’re still unlocking Witchcraft abilities or are grinding for the perfect gear set – but two problematic powers have been switched off for now.
The seventh season of Diablo 4 has some fantastic mechanics. The Witchcraft powers feel like a smart evolution of one of the best seasonal systems, Season 2’s vampiric enhancements. As it faces competition from the early access launch of Path of Exile 2 and the upcoming second season of Last Epoch, however, I’d like to see Blizzard introduce some more dramatic enhancements if it wants to hold its place among the best RPGs. With that said, this season’s offering still has enough weight to give me a reason to dip back in and blast some hordes.
Of course, you can only use the Witchcraft powers if you’ve unlocked them first. Doing so requires you to find Forgotten Altars dotted throughout the game’s dungeons. The problem is that these can be a bit of a pain to find. Fortunately, then, patch 2.1.1 increases the spawn rate of Forgotten Altars, so you should be able to track them down much faster. Additionally, the patch places more Ravens of the Tree around Headhunt Zones. These are used to turn in your Grim Favors when they cap out, so you won’t have to travel around as much while you’re grinding.
While this patch doesn’t arrive for a few days, Blizzard has already deployed a more immediate change. The Decay Augmentation Witchcraft power has been disabled for now – you’ll still be able to purchase it, but won’t be allowed to equip it. Community manager Adam ‘PezRadar Fletcher’ notes that the team has taken note of “some very egregious numbers coming from a few builds/classes.”
Specifically, the Decay ability is causing interactions that, in some cases, result in damage numbers so high they overflow and are displayed as negative values. That’s making certain Diablo 4 builds particularly powerful, so it’s gone for now. Fletcher says a fix is in the works, with the aim to bring the power back into action next week. “The team will attempt to do this via a server hotfix,” he details, “but if we can’t get this in via a hotfix then we will look at doing a quick client patch shortly after 2.1.1 is released.”
Fletcher also announces that Blizzard has disabled the Twilight Warding power temporarily. The ability, which creates a periodic damage-absorbing barrier that’s also capable of reflecting enemy projectiles when at higher ranks, has been “causing some weird interactions that could result in players (especially hardcore) dying unintentionally.” Fletcher says a fix is in testing over the weekend and will be rolled out once it has been verified.
In closing, Fletcher addresses two more Diablo 4 classes that have bugged or underperforming interactions. He acknowledges that the Ring of Mendeln is currently not working correctly on minion-based Necromancer builds, and says that a fix will come in the subsequent patch, 2.1.2. He then remarks that a previous fix for Barbarian’s Mantle of Mountain’s Fury has led to “much better results,” but says the team is looking into inconsistent explosion damage and that Barb fans can expect “some further strength to this build” in the future.
Diablo 4 patch 2.1.1 launches Tuesday February 4 on all platforms. You can browse the full list of changes and bug fixes in the patch notes courtesy of Blizzard.
Want to know when Diablo 4 Season 8 starts? We’ve got the latest information on the Blizzard game’s cycle, along with more of the best games like Diablo to keep the loot flowing.
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